(Note: this series was originally published elsewhere.)

Something in music: origin

One evening at a hot, trendy L.A. nightclub on a rare solo outing, yours truly found himself standing alone at the bar preparing to review the upcoming act. Before he had taken more than a few notes, however, he was bookended by a pair of vivacious vixens who insisted on engaging your rockin’ writer in cozy conversation. Strangely, the subject of “marriage” arose.

One of the young ladies noted that when a gal is about to get hitched, she needs “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.” Your provocative penman was immediately inspired. After all, those very same terms could be applied to music too: “Something old” or classic, “something new” or recently released, “something borrowed”, a cover, and “something blue”, a blues song or a song with “blue” in the title. The rest is history.

‘Something’ in Music 337

Something Old

Our “something old” in this edition is the classic cut “Ziggy Stardust” written and recorded by Brit singer-songwriter and musician David Bowie for his 1972 concept album titled The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The character, Ziggy Stardust, is a bisexual alien rock star.

Something New

Our “something new” this time is the song “Messy” written and recorded by American Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and musician Cindy Alexander. It is the title track of her new album Messy. (Keep your peepers peeled for a potential piece on the entire album.)

If you’re Texas, and you’d like to see Alexander perform live, you’re in luck! Alexander will be opening for “her most significant long-time collaborators” The Bacon Brothers, Michael and Kevin Bacon, at the Haute Spot in Cedar Park, Texas on Saturday, January 20th, 2024. She spoke about the importance of the performing pair on her website.

She said: “The reason I created my first CD was that I was asked to go on tour with the Bacon Brothers after opening their show at The Troubadour. At the time, I didn’t have anything to sell! Dave Darling took my scrappy demos and produced my first record, which actually sold out on that tour and blew up on Amazon.” Visit her website for further details.

Something Borrowed

Our “something borrowed” for this edition is the song “Always and Forever” written by Rod Temperton, first recorded by the band Heatwave in 1976, and famously covered by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny in 1992. This clever cover cut is by multi-instrumentalist Jorge Jagoe earlier this year. Jagoe plays bass, keyboards, and guitar. He is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Something Blue

Last but not least, our “something blue” this edition is the recently released song “Blue Hill Bay” written and recorded by Austin Texas's own singer-songwriter and musician Terry Klein. It’s off his new album, Leave the Light On. The work features Klein on acoustic guitar and vocals, Thomm Jutz on electric and acoustic guitar, Lynn Williams on drums, Tim Marks on bass, and Scotty Sanders on pedal steel guitar.

Did we mention your favorite “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”? If not, let us know. Don’t forget to send us your bride photos too!

(Images courtesy of the original owners)